Implement trains can include one or more vehicles that are coupled and pulled by a leading vehicle, or prime mover. In an example, implement trains include agricultural equipment pulled by a leading vehicle (e.g., a tractor). For instance, an implement train may include one or more vehicles such as wagons, carts, planters, fertilizers, or the like, pulled by a leading vehicle. Implements coupled to one or more of the vehicles can distribute agricultural products, including one or more of seed, liquid or granular fertilizer, chemicals, or other materials, from storage containers, for instance using one or more metering devices. In some examples, seed and fertilizer are released from an implement and deposited into furrows.
The vehicles of an implement train may have one or more fixed axles, or one or more rotatable axles. The vehicles of an implement train generally include a tongue and hitch to allow for the proximal and distal coupling of each of the vehicles with adjacent preceding and proceeding vehicles. An articulating joint can be formed between each of the vehicles at the couplings between respective hitches and tongues.
A GPS receiver and antenna can be coupled to one or more of a leading vehicle, a trailing vehicle, or an implement coupled to a leading or trailing vehicle. In some examples, multiple receivers and antennas are used. For example, an implement including a planter unit can include a GPS receiver, and a coulter on the planter unit can be used to steer the planter unit independently from the leading vehicle. In other examples, implement trains include GPS receivers on planter units and on the leading vehicle. A central controller integrates GPS locations of both the leading vehicle and the planter units to determine a suitable route for the leading vehicle and the planter. However, such systems require GPS receivers on more than one of the vehicles of the implement train with the attendant maintenance and installation of the same.